POINT PLEASANT — There is a new cafe in town, and this one aims to help children and adults with special needs learn life skills in the real world.
Next Steps Cafe has officially started in Point Pleasant. This cafe is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 to 11 a.m. inside the Freezing Point Frozen Yogurt location at 3100 Bridge Ave.
The cafe is fully run by adults in the Next Steps program, which aims to help adults with disabilities learn basic life skills and get them accustomed to the real world. The employees sell muffins, bagels along with an assortment of coffee, tea and other hot beverages.
Jen Dyer, executive director of the program said, “We decided to enhance our program and give our clients more opportunities by opening a coffee shop in town. The owner of Freezing Point donated the space to use, just like Main Street Kitchen does for the Kindness Cafe (in Manasquan). They don’t open until 12 p.m., so they donated the space twice a week to let us come in and run our coffee shop to give our clients more experience and different kinds of experience than they were getting at their job placements.”
Nicole Pichetto, director of Next Steps, told The Ocean Star, “My parents own Freezing Point, so when we were looking for a spot, we thought why not be in the town where we are located and our school is. They were more than willing to have us come in.”
“It is really nice to bring the community in to get to know our clients and their local community members too,” Dyer added. “We have had a lot of people come out from in and out of the community. These adults deserve to be out in their own community and get to know the people they live and work with along with having work experience just like you or I would.”
Many of the employees at this location say they are thrilled to be working at the shop. Aniyia Ross said that she and all the employees love working at the cafe and that helping customers is something she wants to be doing.
Katie Hallman, another employee at the cafe, told The Ocean Star, “I love taking the orders. It brings a smile to my face.”
Another employee, Jack Miller, said, “I like serving coffee and a bunch of different foods to the customers. It is nice to make them happy.”
Pichetto further said, “These clients have the drive and the energy so I think someone giving them the chance and opportunity to see what they are capable of is imperative. These adults are capable of more than just going to a day program and sitting down doing arts and crafts. Really being part of the community, and as you can see by the amount of people who are here, they just bring so much joy to the area and everyone who supports them.”
All the funds generated by this cafe go back towards the program, in purchasing new and fresh items for the shop. All tips are divided equally among the adults at the end of the day. The ultimate goal with saving all this money is to buy/rent a storefront of their own in the area to serve as a cafe.
The hours of operation for Next Steps Cafe are Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 to 11 a.m. The cafe will not be open on April 23 and 24, and the summer schedule, starting in July, will only be on Wednesdays.
 6x10 4c.jpg)
